{"id":4666,"date":"2026-02-12T22:21:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T22:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/kenya-cult-leader-accused-over-dozens-of-deaths"},"modified":"2026-02-12T23:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:22:28","slug":"kenya-cult-leader-accused-over-dozens-of-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/kenya-cult-leader-accused-over-dozens-of-deaths","title":{"rendered":"Kenya: Cult Leader Accused over Dozens of Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>A charge sheet issued by the court showed that Kenyan sect leader Paul Mackenzie and seven others linked to a doomsday religious group have been hit with new accusations related to the deaths of 52 people whose bodies were found in shallow graves in southeastern Kenya in 2025.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie and others were already facing charges including murder and terrorism in connection with the deaths of people whose bodies had previously been exhumed from Shakahola Forest, in one of the largest cult-related disasters in modern history.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Mackenzie and his church, \u201cGood News International,\u201d founded a religious cult in which they ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death in order to reach heaven before the end of the world. Mackenzie has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

By 2025\u2014two years after investigations began\u2014prosecutors said more than 400 bodies had been recovered from Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County on Kenya\u2019s eastern coast.<\/p>\n

Investigators expanded their probe to other suspected burial sites, and by August 2025, 52 bodies had been recovered from shallow graves in and around Kwa Binzaro, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Shakahola. Mackenzie and the other defendants appeared before a judge in the city of Mombasa on Wednesday for a joint hearing in the latest case.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege that Mackenzie was the mastermind and overseer of the crimes in Kwa Binzaro, and that he continued directing them after his arrest in 2023, using methods that included extremist teachings to lure victims to the remote location.<\/p>\n

In late January, Kenya\u2019s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said in a statement posted on X that \u201cthe court heard that investigators found handwritten notes in the (prison) cells occupied by Mackenzie, allegedly detailing (financial) transactions carried out via mobile phones.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charge sheet said the defendants face counts including murder, participation in organized criminal activity under Kenya\u2019s anti\u2013organized crime law, and offenses related to extremism and facilitating terrorist acts under the country\u2019s counterterrorism framework. All defendants pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Africa<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press. A charge sheet issued by the court showed that Kenyan sect leader Paul Mackenzie and seven others linked to a doomsday religious group have been hit with new accusations related to the deaths of 52 people whose bodies were found in shallow graves in southeastern Kenya in 2025. Mackenzie and others were already facing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-4666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"\nKenya: Cult Leader Accused over Dozens of Deaths - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press. 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